Who’s excited for #MuscleWatch? Every year, as training camp approaches, you hear about players being in the best shape of their lives, or putting on 10 pounds of muscle. Sometimes it translates into results, and sometimes it doesn’t.

If this latest entrant turns out to be the real deal, that could be scary for the rest of the league. Pelicans strength coach Jason Sumerlin says Anthony Davis has put on 12 pounds of muscle, bringing him up to 253 pounds.

“Our first phase was portion control,” said Sumerlin, taking over for Carlos Daniel, who left to further his education in the training field. “I wanted Anthony to eat more than he does, actually, because that’s the only way to gain weight. You have to get more protein, more calories. He’s never going to cut out pizza, but I finally got him to eat seafood, for the first time ever. He had salmon. He also has a chef now, so he’s become more adventurous when it comes to food and his diet. Changing his diet is a huge thing and probably half the battle.”

The second aspect of Davis’ muscle increase came from spending extensive time in the weight room with Sumerlin, getting on an uninterrupted lifting routine.

“He has been lifting consistently, doing all the small things perfectly and efficiently,” Sumerlin said of Davis’ regimen. “We are more consistent in his lifts and his corrective exercises. He’s lifted a lot more weight – he’s stronger than he’s ever been.”

The additional strength should allow Davis to hold his ground better against bigger frontcourt players he faces, some of whom have outweighed or outmuscled him in the past.

“He’s going to be stronger, faster, quicker and more explosive this year,” said Sumerlin, who has also emphasized core strength. “He talks about it all the time. He feels it. His trunk stability is a huge thing. Whenever he has been down low with the big guys, he kind of collapses (at his midsection). He’s starting to understand how to use his body more efficiently now.”

You obviously have to take any August reports about the shape a player is in with a sizable grain of salt, but the idea of a stronger but still agile Anthony Davis is absolutely terrifying. He’s going to be playing a lot of center in Alvin Gentry’s offense, so the added strength will come in handy for banging with opposing bigs. Davis is already in line to be the next generational superstar; this might be the year he overtakes LeBron James and Kevin Durant and becomes the best player in the NBA.

Bradley Beal has made it clear. He thinks he’s a max player, and that’s what he wants. I’ve talked to people on both sides all offseason about this. It seems to be Bradley Beal’s decision. The Wizards are willing to make him an offer an extension. But they’re not going to offer him the maximum extension right now simply because they don’t have to.

The Wizards are taking the right approach.

Beal might be worth a max contract next summer. More likely, he’ll probably command one from someone. So many teams will have max cap space.

There’s a risk he’ll stumble this year, though. He hasn’t yet had a fully healthy season, and that’s the biggest reason for concern. He also takes too many long 2s and doesn’t get to the line enough. If you don’t have to pay him the max now, why do it?

Beal will be a restricted free agent next summer, so he’s not leaving Washington until 2017 at the earliest unless the Wizards allow it. There’s a chance he takes the qualifying offer, but the odds are very low. He could also seek a shorter offer sheet in free agency that will allow him to bolt in 2018 or 2019, but again, the odds are low (though substantially higher than him taking the qualifying offer). The risk of either is not high enough to offer a max extension now.

Plus, delaying will give the Wizards extra cap room next summer. Beal’s cap hold would be $14,236,685. A max contract projects to start at $20,947,250. If Washington waits, it can use that extra $6.7 million in cap space and then exceed the cap to re-sign Beal. That extra money could be handy for luring Kevin Durant or, if Durant goes home, a supporting player who wants to follow the superstar to D.C.

It wouldn’t be imprudent for the Wizards to offer Beal more than his cap hold now, but they need to get some savings in return. There should be no rush to give Beal the max. Washington should use the final season of his contract to evaluate him and his health further. The Wizards can always offer the max next summer – and it’d be shocking if Beal rejected it then just because he didn’t get it now.

Force Beal to take less now in exchange for the security of a deal. Jonas Valanciunas and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist seemingly took that safe route.

And if Beal wants to bet on himself and play out the season without an extension, that’s fine too. Good thing, because it seems that’s the direction we’re headed.

Of course, Beal could always blink before the Nov. 2 extension deadline. If he’s willing to take less than the max, he shouldn’t tell the Wizards until he gets the best offer possible from them.

Washington, on the other hand, should hold firm with less-than-max offers.

But so is this: Anthony will get a bonus if he’s traded, and that bonus would be larger if he’s traded in 2016-17 or 2017-18 rather than this season. Anthony also has a no-trade clause, giving him final say in if and when he’s dealt.

Those circumstances – perhaps more than anything else – make it likely the star forward will remain with the Knicks this season.

Anthony’s contract contains a 15% trade kicker, which means if traded, he gets a bonus of 15% of the contract’s remaining value (including the season following his early termination option) from the Knicks. That bonus is allocated across the remaining years of his contract before the early termination option proportionate to the percentage of his salary that’s guarantee. Because Anthony’s deal is fully guaranteed, the trade bonus is allocated equally to each season.

But there’s the major catch: Anthony’s compensation – salary plus trade bonus – in the season of the trade can’t exceed his max salary as defined by years of service or 105% his previous salary, whichever is greater.

That’s why trade bonuses for max players have mattered only minimally. There just isn’t much room under the limit for their compensation to increase.

For example, Anthony has $101,606,280 remaining on his contract – 15% of which would be$15,240,942. But if Anthony is traded this year, his trade bonus would be just $2,118,963. That’s his room below the max –105% his previous salary ($23,581,321) minus his actual salary ($22,875,000) – multiplied by the number of years remaining before his early termination option (three).

And the bonus is only so high because Anthony took a smaller raise this season to give the Knicks extra cap space. If he had gotten his full 7.5% raise, as he does in other seasons, he would have already been above his applicable max. So, his trade bonus would have been $0.

But because the salary cap is skyrocketing in coming seasons due to the new national TV contracts, Anthony will be far below his max salary. That leaves room for the trade bonus to matter.

Next year, Anthony’s max projects to near $30 million while his salary will be shy of $25 million. He could accept a trade bonus of twice the difference (twice because he can allocate it over two years). That still won’t get him his full 15%, but it will come much closer than this season.

Remember, we won’t know 2016-17 max salaries until next July. If the cap comes in higher than expected, Anthony could get a higher portion of his potential trade bonus – up to the full 15% of $11,809,692.

If the cap isn’t quite high enough to get him that full amount, he could amend his contract to remove the early termination option just before the trade. That would allow him to allocate the bonus over three years rather than two, which should get him to the full 15%.

By 2017-18, the cap is projected to rise high enough that Anthony would get his full 15% if traded ($8,125,785). Obviously, though, each season Anthony plays reduces the amount of money left on his contract. In fact, the value shrinks even throughout the regular season.

Anthony has an early termination option before the 2018-19 season, so if he wants to leave the Knicks at that point and can still command so much money, he might as well terminate his contract and become a free agent.

Here is the projected trade bonus for Anthony if he’s traded before each season of his contract:

Anthony’s bonus won’t change at any point this season. Even at the trade deadline, 15% of his contract’s remaining value will far surpass his potential bonus.

His bonus could begin to decline during the 2016-17 season, depending exactly where the cap lands and whether Anthony is willing to remove his early termination option. By 2017-18, it will matter when in the season he’s dealt.

Really, this whole conversation exposes the perverse incentive of trade bonuses. Anthony’s salary with the Knicks is set unless they renegotiate it upward (the only direction allowable, and why would they do that?), he accepts a buyout (why would he do that?) or he gets traded.

Simply, the only realistic way for Anthony to get a raise before 2018 is to get traded. And the way for him to maximize that raise to get traded in 2016-17 or 2017-18.

Of course, an NBA paycheck is not Anthony’s only concern. Playing in New York creates marketing opportunities he wouldn’t get elsewhere. He must also consider his family – his wife, La La, and son, Kiyan. Does he want to move to a new city? He also probably cares about his legacy, and many would look unfavorably on him bailing on the Knicks after forcing a trade from the Nuggets. There’s a lot to consider.

It’s also easy to see why Anthony would want to leave. The Knicks are (surprisingly patiently) rebuilding, and Anthony is on the wrong side of 30. His window could easily close before New York’s opens.

Don’t underestimate how good Anthony is now, though. Barring injury or major regression, teams will want to trade for him next summer. Remember how strongly he was courted just a year ago? The market for him will probably only expand.

LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Dwight Howard, Al Horford, Mike Conley, Hassan Whiteside and Timofey Mozgov could all be free agents next summer. Even add potential restricted free agents like Bradley Beal and Andre Drummond. That’s just nine players. More than nine teams will have max cap room. The ones that strike out on that premier group could very well choose to deal for Anthony rather than splurge on lesser free agents.

Trade bonuses create difficulties in matching salaries, but that’s much easier for teams under the cap. The odds of the Knicks finding a viable trade partner are higher with the cap shooting up. They can probably get a nice package of young players and/or draft picks to enhance rebuilding. That’s especially important, because New York must send the Raptors a first-round pick next year.

This is all hypothetical, though – assessments based on what previous players like Anthony and teams like the Knicks have desired. Anthony and/or the Knicks might buck precedent.

Perhaps, Anthony is totally loyal to the Knicks. But, if he’s not, his trade bonus dictates he should give him the benefit of the doubt this season.

He can reevaluate next summer. He’ll be a year older, and if the Knicks aren’t a year better – and even that might not be enough to get on Anthony’s timeline – he can explore a trade then. And if they have improved, he’ll surely be credited for the turnaround.

How good is Andrew Wiggins? So good that a few days ago, the Timberwolves’ official PR account posted a tweet drawing attention to the anniversary of their trade for him, despite that trade involving Minnesota giving up a consensus top-1o player in Kevin Love.

Wiggins was outstanding in his rookie season for the Timberwolves, winning Rookie of the Year and establishing himself as a cornerstone of a young core in Minnesota that looks to be competitive for a long time. And his teammate Ricky Rubio thinks that’s just the beginning, according to an interview with Rappler.com:

“I think Wiggins is going to be an MVP one day,” said Rubio, who missed a large chunk of last season due to a severely sprained ankle injury.

“He’s a great player, [has] fit in this league very well since day one, and I think as a team we’re really young but we’re adding some veterans that’s going to help us to grow up and follow where we’re going to go – going to make the playoffs.”

As crazy as that sounds now, Rubio might not be wrong. But it’s still a ways off, and the field is crowded. It’s going to be several more years before LeBron James and Kevin Durant stop playing at an MVP level, and Stephen Curry and Anthony Davis are just entering their primes. But Wiggins is only 20 years old and already showing star potential. If he and Karl-Anthony Towns keep developing and the Wolves become a playoff contender in a few years, it’s not hard to see him pushing himself into that conversation.